School Bus Monitors salary

SOC 33-9094 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$35,100

per year, nationally

Middle half

$31,760–$37,760

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

78,420

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-2.7%

12,600 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$28,130$43,250

10th: $28,130
25th: $31,760
Median: $35,100
75th: $37,760
90th: $43,250

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where school bus monitors earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$42,330	107.0	470	0.27×
2	District of Columbia	$41,720	109.9	—	—
3	Oregon	$40,900	103.4	380	0.39×
4	Hawaii	$40,250	110.0	220	0.71×
5	Vermont	$39,020	98.0	70	0.45×
6	Maryland	$38,750	105.0	2,370	1.70×
7	Minnesota	$38,590	98.6	790	0.53×
8	North Dakota	$38,480	89.0	120	0.53×
9	California	$38,360	110.7	1,260	0.14×
10	Maine	$38,060	97.0	160	0.49×
11	Utah	$38,020	98.9	470	0.53×
12	New Hampshire	$37,620	104.2	120	0.34×
13	New York	$36,910	107.9	19,090	3.91×
14	Wyoming	$36,810	92.7	330	2.33×
15	Wisconsin	$36,640	94.1	310	0.21×
16	Delaware	$36,560	99.8	280	1.12×
17	Virginia	$36,510	101.1	1,920	0.92×
18	New Mexico	$36,250	92.2	330	0.75×
19	New Jersey	$36,100	108.8	6,100	2.82×
20	Massachusetts	$36,020	105.8	2,300	1.25×
21	Rhode Island	$35,910	102.3	—	—
22	Connecticut	$35,350	103.6	1,520	1.77×
23	Pennsylvania	$35,290	97.6	3,180	1.04×
24	Nebraska	$34,750	90.1	480	0.93×
25	Montana	$34,740	94.6	200	0.79×
26	Arizona	$34,560	100.7	1,570	0.96×
27	South Dakota	$34,380	88.6	140	0.59×
28	Missouri	$34,220	90.8	1,530	1.04×
29	Florida	$34,110	103.4	4,080	0.81×
30	Alaska	$33,990	102.4	260	1.60×
31	Illinois	$33,840	100.0	6,930	2.25×
32	Indiana	$33,590	93.3	2,020	1.25×
33	Colorado	$33,540	103.1	150	0.10×
34	North Carolina	$32,970	94.3	1,360	0.55×
35	Iowa	$32,740	87.8	520	0.66×
36	Michigan	$32,480	96.2	1,860	0.84×
37	Idaho	$32,230	95.5	340	0.79×
38	Georgia	$30,130	96.3	2,870	1.16×
39	Kansas	$29,420	90.1	1,240	1.71×
40	Texas	$29,300	97.1	2,610	0.37×
41	Nevada	$29,230	100.0	160	0.21×
42	Arkansas	$28,260	86.9	780	1.19×
43	Kentucky	$28,220	90.2	370	0.36×
44	Alabama	$28,210	88.8	130	0.12×
45	Oklahoma	$28,130	87.8	720	0.83×
46	Ohio	$28,110	92.8	1,000	0.36×
47	Tennessee	$27,250	91.9	830	0.50×
48	South Carolina	$26,240	93.7	1,180	1.01×
49	Louisiana	$25,250	88.2	1,170	1.19×
50	Mississippi	$23,500	87.0	540	0.93×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where school bus monitors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for school bus monitors

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$47,170	111.1	190	0.18×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$43,250	115.6	140	0.12×
3	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$43,110	101.6	100	1.22×
4	Rochester, MN	$41,720	90.8	70	1.12×
5	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$41,720	108.9	2,220	1.40×
6	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$41,660	100.1	60	0.86×
7	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$41,490	105.4	210	0.34×
8	Lexington Park, MD	$41,490	100.8	90	2.53×
9	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$41,050	105.1	40	0.28×
10	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$40,710	103.7	50	0.80×
11	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$40,540	106.7	50	0.09×
12	Barnstable Town, MA	$40,160	98.4	50	1.01×
13	Worcester, MA	$40,130	102.5	330	1.86×
14	Green Bay, WI	$39,880	93.1	60	0.70×
15	Rocky Mount, NC	$39,080	88.0	100	3.62×
16	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$38,920	111.9	—	—
17	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$38,820	100.9	150	0.36×
18	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$38,670	104.8	580	0.59×
19	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$38,590	104.5	650	0.95×
20	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$38,470	108.3	1,090	0.80×
21	Lewiston-Auburn, ME	$38,410	94.7	40	1.53×
22	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$38,360	113.6	270	0.09×
23	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$38,220	100.9	110	0.66×
24	Harrisonburg, VA	$37,660	94.9	30	1.00×
25	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$37,630	97.6	80	0.43×
26	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$37,340	112.6	16,260	3.40×
27	Bangor, ME	$37,300	96.5	50	1.45×
28	Fargo, ND-MN	$37,150	90.9	40	0.54×
29	Peoria, IL	$37,140	91.2	240	2.83×
30	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$37,130	109.4	730	5.35×
31	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$36,930	95.5	70	0.24×
32	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$36,830	98.2	—	—
33	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$36,610	100.0	160	0.83×
34	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$36,540	106.4	280	0.32×
35	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$36,490	90.3	80	1.22×
36	Dover, DE	$36,410	97.5	80	2.46×
37	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	$36,270	97.1	220	1.67×
38	Farmington, NM	$36,250	87.7	—	—
39	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$36,240	100.3	540	0.56×
40	Reading, PA	$36,140	97.1	120	1.37×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where school bus monitors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Security Guards$38,020
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers$33,580
Crossing Guards and Flaggers$38,100
Protective Service Workers, All Other$42,540
Transportation Security Screeners$66,770
Private Detectives and Investigators$51,220
Animal Control Workers$45,660
Gambling Surveillance Officers and Gambling Investigators$43,370